The present invention relates to gaming and to card games. In particular, the present invention pertains to a method of playing a new type of “guts” card game especially adapted for casino and card room gaming.
A wide variety of wagering games presently exist for casino and cardroom environments. Such games should be exciting and easy to learn so as to promote a stimulating gaming experience. Card games such as poker and blackjack have gained widespread popularity because of their established ranking of hands and well-known rules. Furthermore, each of these games usually involves numerous wagering opportunities for the players, thus increasing player participation and excitement. Lastly, the games move fairly quickly to maintain action and activity. All of these factors have created games that are widely accepted and widely known.
Gaming establishments also require innovative and exciting games to offer their clients. Distinctive new games are important in maintaining a casino's customer base as well as attracting new clients. Furthermore, casinos seek games that are easy to play and deal and that also maximize the amount of play, for example by increasing the number of hands per hour. Popular casino poker games such as “Let It Ride,” “Texas Holdem,” and “Red Dog” are examples of such games that are faster than the traditional poker room type game.
Guts is a genre of poker game that typically involves a greater potential for large pot sizes. Most guts games generally follow a similar pattern: after each player is dealt a hand, players decide if they are “in” or “out” of the hand. Those players that call “out” have no further stakes in the hand and are out of the game for that hand, while those players that called “in” continue playing. Of those players who called “in,” the one who has the highest hand collects the pot. All other players who called “in” and did not beat the highest hand must match the amount of money in the pot. The result is an equal or greater amount of money in the pot for the next round of play. Play continues until only one player calls “in” and wins the pot. The size of the pot in a guts poker game can be much higher than typical poker games. For example, if three people call “in,” the amount of money in the pot will double because one person will win the pot, while the other two must match the pot. For this reason, guts games are typically more expensive to play but are more exciting for players because of the greater potential for winnings.
Casinos also like guts games because of the greater potential for “rakes,” in which the house takes a small amount of each pot won as a fee for providing the gaming service. Other variations of the basic guts game include Monte Carlo, Two And One, and Four Three.
In traditional guts poker, the player closest to the dealer normally has an advantage because that player can see how many players have opted to participate in the game. If no other player is willing to participate, the last player can remain in and win the pot even with a weak hand. In order to eliminate this advantage, a variation of guts called the “kitty” is used.
The kitty is a blind hand dealt face down that belongs to the pot and not revealed to the table until the hand is over. If the guts poker game involves two cards being dealt to each player, then a two-card kitty is dealt as well, kept near the dealer, and only turned up at the end of the hand. The purpose of the kitty is so that those players who go “in” must not only beat the other players who have gone “in,” but they must also beat the kitty's hand. The feature that this adds to the guts game is that if the kitty has the best hand at the table, everybody who went “in” loses and matches the pot. The game ends only when one person goes “in” and also beats the kitty.
A drawback of the kitty is that the kitty comes into play every hand. This means that the cards must be reshuffled each hand. The same problem exists in each of the above listed popular guts poker games, where each game only deals one hand to a player and before requiring a shuffle. Players who are not “in” the hand get bored waiting for the constant shuffling before they get to see a new hand. Furthermore, the length of games before a single player wins the pot is often too short, in particular when fewer players are at the table. Finally, there is a constant need for the casino to increase a game's “hands per hour” to increase the casino rake.
As mentioned above, casinos have a need to offer new and exciting games to offer their players. While guts poker offers the opportunity for large pot sizes and exciting play, existing guts games do not offer speed of delivery to the players. Therefore, a new, more efficient, and more exciting method of playing guts is needed.
The game of “Double Dead Man Guts” addresses these problems by introducing the feature of two “dead man” hands that a player must beat before winning the pot. If no player wins the pot, new hands are dealt without a reshuffle, thus increasing the speed of the game. Time is saved by not having to shuffle as frequently. The players are happier because they get hands to them more quickly. Finally, more hands means more rakes per hour for casinos and card rooms.